Chapter 38 - The Archive Room
Unlike the reinforced room beneath the house, this chamber had not been emptied.
Dust covered everything.
Wooden shelves lined the walls.
Dozens of weatherproof boxes remained stacked in careful rows.
No gold.
No jewelry.
No cash.
Only documents.
Thousands of them.
Samuel opened the nearest box.
Birth certificates.
Property deeds.
Court filings.
Corporate agreements.
Every document involved families from the surrounding region dating back nearly sixty years.
"This isn't someone's private collection," Samuel whispered.
"It's an archive."
Daniel carefully opened another box.
Inside lay dozens of cassette tapes.
Each labeled with names and dates.
Several names appeared familiar from the ledger recovered at the warehouse.
Others belonged to people Daniel had never heard of.
Lily discovered an old projector and several reels of film.
One reel carried a handwritten label.
Carter Family - 1988
Daniel had been only a teenager.
"I don't remember anyone filming us."
Samuel examined the shelves more carefully.
Every box followed a precise numbering system.
Except one.
Shelf B-12 stood completely empty.
Only a layer of clean dust remained.
Someone had removed that box recently.
Whoever had entered Daniel's house the night before...
May you like
May have already known exactly what was missing.
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